Get a 3-Bedroom South Loop Penthouse with Terrace for $699,000: 520 S State
This 3-bedroom penthouse in the Library Tower at 520 S State in the South Loop came on the market in July 2023.
Library Tower was built at the end of the housing bubble, completed in 2008. It has 184 units and attached garage parking.
It gets its name because it’s across the street from the Harold Washington Library. This building has 24-hour door staff, a business center, fitness room, dry cleaners, theater, hospitality suite and roof deck.
This unit is a southeast corner penthouse unit with floor-to-ceiling windows and 10 foot ceilings.
It has hardwood floors in the main living/dining and kitchen areas with “new” carpet in the bedrooms.
There’s a gas fireplace in the living room.
The kitchen is open to the living/dining room and has wood cabinets, stone countertops, with a breakfast bar and stainless steel appliances.
There’s a big 35×10 south facing terrace off the kitchen and the primary suite.
The primary suite has an en suite bathroom with dual vanity, soaking tub, and shower.
The unit has a dedicated laundry room with a side-by-side washer/dryer.
It also has the other features buyers look for, including central air and an oversized garage parking space for $35,000 extra.
This building is near the shops and restaurants of Printers Row, the Loop and South Michigan Avenue. Grant Park is nearby.
Listed in July 2023 for $699,000, the unit is still listed at $699,000.
It last sold in 2009 for $697,000.
Will this penthouse find a buyer in 2023?
Tyler Stallings at Corcoran Urban Real Estate has the listing. See the pictures and floor plan here.
Unit #1618: 3 bedrooms, 2.5 baths, 2030 square feet, penthouse
- Sold in January 2009 for $697,000
- Originally listed in July 2023 for $699,000
- Currently still listed at $699,000 (plus $35,000 for garage parking)
- Assessments of $1164 a month (includes doorman, exercise room, exterior maintenance, scavenger, snow removal, Internet)
- Taxes of $12,388
- Central Air
- Washer/dryer in the unit
- Gas fireplace
- Bedroom #1: 18×13
- Bedroom #2: 17×12
- Bedroom #3: 12×12
- Living/dining room: 22×19
- Kitchen: 16×10
- Laundry room: 9×8
- Foyer: 12×10
The virtual staging is hilarious. Imagine selling for less than you paid for the place 14 years earlier.
Looks like someone will take a well-deserved bath on this place. It hasn’t been touched since 2009, maybe earlier.
Wooof
The assessments are insane for B- building
“assessments are insane for B- building”
They’re insane for what little they include, regardless of the building ‘tier’.
Someone paid $615k for the SE corner of the 7th floor 18 months ago:
https://www.redfin.com/IL/Chicago/520-S-State-St-60605/unit-701/home/39568293
If my only choice was to buy either 701 for $615k or the feature for $699k, I’d be living on the 16th floor.
it looks like 701 is smaller with a smaller deck
“They’re insane for what little they include, regardless of the building ‘tier’.”
Assessments seem cheap to me for this square footage. Not that many units and a 24/7 doorstaff. Probably also have a few maintenance people on staff.
To have 24/7 staff probably need at least 10 employees. Maybe more.
“The assessments are insane for B- building”
It doesn’t matter if this is the Tribune or a “B- building.” You have to pay the staff what you have to pay them. You have salaries and health insurance. Also have an exercise room and rooftop deck that need maintenance. Hopefully they have built their reserve fund because the building is reaching 16 years so things are going to need to be done.
“The virtual staging is hilarious. Imagine selling for less than you paid for the place 14 years earlier.”
Bubbles are nasty, aren’t they? I’m sure those who sold their Microsoft shares in 2013 who had bought in 2000 were thinking the same thing. Held all those years only to now break even (minus the dividend, which they finally started paying.)
This would have been priced “pre-construction” at the end of the bubble. Peak price. Brutal. But has been happening for years all over Chicago.
I was gonna say that at least they got to take some tax benefits – mortgage interest and property tax deduction and then I saw the assessments. Ouch.
Was parking included in the original sale? If so they are trying to make their “profit” there. Parking is worth less now in the age of uber and lyft so good luck to them.
At least they didn’t put a penny into this place. All the finishes looking rather old in the tooth now. It is utterly insane that 701 sold for what it did. I wouldn’t touch this for over $550 and that includes the parking.
“it looks like 701 is smaller with a smaller deck”
Indeed. This one is easily more than 10% nicer.